help with image size and saving..

Hey all,
I use CS2 to edit my photos. I shoot jpeg (i know i know). After im done editing i save and the automatic image quality settings is "8" and "high" If i go to image size i think it is 72DPI. If i am going to print, an 8x10 lets say, do i need to increase the DPI then save? Or anything else i need to do? Thanks for the help.

You understand that each time you save a jpeg you are compressing it and loosing a bit of data,therefore save at the highest level. If you don't want to shoot raw that is fine, but I would suggest using the "save as" command and keeping a copy of the jpeg that is not edited, sort of a negative. This may take more HD space, but they are cheap now and you should be backing everything up at least once or twice.
Yes you need to increase the resolution before you send to the printer. 300 ppi (pixel per inch ) is the common setting for most printers.

Thank you. I do my prints through mpix, so i will need to adjust the image size to 300ppi then save as then send to them to print? thanks

troyer16 wrote in post #3584606
Hey all,
I shoot jpeg (i know i know).

If jpg works for you there is no reason that you should be apologetic. I have found myself shooting jpg more and more, depending on the subject matter. The key is to get the exposure right at the time of taking the shot. Some of the work I do for my clients I know that they are only going to be used on web or small print. Does it make sense to shoot RAW for this if I know that I can get my exposure right in the first place, no.

It is true that each time you save a jpg that you lose some data to compression. However, I have tested saving the same file up to 50 times (making a very very small adjustment each time) and then printing the original and the multiple saved file. There was virtually no difference. I took them to a local camera club meeting and there was no consensus on which one was the saved one. So if you are saving a jpg two or three times the loss of quality is very very minimal. If you are saving dozens of times, perhaps.

Thank you for the help.
Sorry for the redundancy but lets say im going to upload the image to mpix for printing. I should change the image size to 300ppi before doing that correct?

Yes, it's usually the best idea to send images for printing at exactly the right size and res.

If you're sending a file to be printed at 5x7, for example, you should set your crop tool options to 5,7,300 and crop your photo just the way you want it. Then save it as a different file (so you've still got your big original file intact) and send it off.